Banishing Mosquitoes

A simple technology nets a decline in malaria incidence and deaths.

IN JULY, THE ONE-MILLIONTH “long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito net” was distributed in southern Sudan. The nets, draped around sleeping areas, kill female anopheles mosquitoes, the prime carriers of malaria. By eliminating insects in one home, the nets can reduce the overall number of mosquitoes in an area, even in nearby homes without nets. Along with artemisinin-based combination therapies and the spraying of insecticide indoors, the nets have contributed to a 50% decline in malaria incidence and deaths in 29 nations during the past seven years.

Once Bitten
After a 1950s campaign to eliminate malaria fell disastrously short, new tools are propelling another push to eradicate the mosquito-borne plague.